North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

http://www.ntnews.com.au/business/doubt ... 7551367051

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-22/g ... re/6716346

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-03/m ... nt/6747170

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-26/g ... ne/6724746

Mines = short-term profit with long-term costs from damage.

Daly ... Mt Todd Gold
Finniss ... Rum Jungle Uranium
McArthur ... MRM Lead-Zinc-Silver

What, the bond hasn't been paid yet? Shouldn't that have occurred before any soil was turned in case something happened that might affect their ability to pay it? Like I don't know, a drop in commodity prices perhaps? I remember when this started and I read the amount and thought it was woefully inadequate, that basically the mine could simply decide the cost to clean up exceeded the value of the bond and they could walk away with the NT government to foot the bill. Now it looks like that not only will we pay for the rehabilitation works but we won't even get the bond to pay for this work.

Dan

My understanding is they lifted the required bond amount when it became clear what a potential clusterf.ck it was out there.

And with commodity prices having plummeted, it is possible the mine company has very little cash.

This scenario happens over and over in the mining industry and the public is left with the mess.

I am surprised they are having problems, who would have thought redirecting a major river in a cyclone zone for one of the world's biggest lead-zinc-silver mines could possibly end badly???

And we were told everything would be OK ... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/m ... ee/4732154

The McArthur River until now has been a natural treasure, a complex delta at the mouth, with islands outside. And now a question mark hangs over its future.

Hopefully Giles will walk his talk and get the bond cash and close the whole shebang if that proves to be the best option for the river.

Last I read the capping on the old Rum Jungle toxic rockpile was failing and leaching into the upper Finniss. Still costing a fortune long after the profits have flown.

And one can only speculate what is happening at Edith River, probably a good thing it is an El Nino year ...

I feel for the TO's out at McArthur River. When you start to understand the culture, you truly see what country means to them.

Well, let's start fracking the joint then. What could possibly go wrong?

Tiz heart breaking for the traditional owners and for the Territory generally. The McArthur is one of the NT's most visited rivers, popular because it is a vast, unspoilt system and close to the Qld border.

It's not just ore miners that are doing it hard ... http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/30/investi ... =obnetwork

Three quarters of the TO's work in the mining and environmental departments at MRM????

The successive governments (and us voters) have completely dropped the ball when it comes to mining in the NT.
No mine should ever be given the go ahead unless exit, rehabilitation plans or emergency procedures are fully funded by the developer.
When the poop hits the fan, they will just walk away and leave it up to us to fix. Just not good enough but that’s the way people think these days.
With the downturn in mining, I wonder just how long it will be until these money grabbers will just walk away. Why wouldn’t they, there is nothing to make them fix the place up.
The Ok Tedi Mine debacle rings a bell

the only way for things to change is for us, the silent majority, to jack it up the government and demand that things are sorted before they take another tonne of earth out.
but that isnt going to happen because we are all to happy to let things go and when the poop hits the fan, we will have a whinge for a few weeks until it dies down again
unless things directly affect us, we wont do anything

Sad but true, history keeps repeating.

There is a lot of valid point from the comments so far. The one thing that seems to make the territory government look a tad greedy is that all the mines in NSW be it coal, gold zinc or lead, all there bonds put together amounts just under 1.5 billion. Rumour has it that the Giles party wants 1.8 billion from glencore. Also who profits the interest?

We also need proper environmental impact studies to restore the land. The days of just letting the pit fill with water and calling it a lake are not good enough either.

If the estimated cost to clean up is $550 million and that is what they set the bond at then from a business perspective cleaning up doesn't make a lot of sense. Why take the risk that the estimates are right and it doesn't blow out? Unless you make the bond substantially higher or impose minimum jail sentences for all CEO's and majority share holders where is the incentive to clean up?